Clownfish Concern

[tracymace1229]

hi,
'Crusty' the Clownfish has been our most voraciaous eater for the last 2 1/2 years. He has watched his bubbletip anenome grow from a 3" dia to almost 9" across. Over the last few months he has dropped down the pecking order as a Sailfin Tang has vied for the number 1 or 2 spot with The 2 year boss...our little Heralds Pygmy Angel.
So yesterday I noticed that Crusty had a small white speck under his lip. Crusty has a slime coating that will collect anything. Everytime I see something white on him I get the Ick fear. The tank has never had an Ick outbreak. For a long time I had undisolved salt that would appear to be Ick that would attach to him. Better preparation techniques has eliminated that problem.
Last last nite I noticed that Crusty's white speck had gotten larger and longer....maybe a parasite? This morning his mouth is flush with a half dozen of these lip 'stings'. Actually they are just outside his lips. It almost looks as if he swam thru a spider web and had little pieces stuck to his slime coating.
I am not sure what it is. They wave in the current. Almost 1-2mm long. Yet they dont appear to be a worm to me. Stringy yes...worm...no. It is nothing that I can find on the web.
Yesterday I read that when a Bubbletip anenomes tentacles are long...it is hungry...so we fed a piece of shrimp to him for the first time in over a year. Could the Anenome have stung the face of Crusty as he rushes into cover?
will try to get a camera pic tonight....
Oh...he seems hungry as usual...but yesterday was feeding day..So tuff for him!!
checked the water:
Salinity is 33+ ppm {I try to keep it at 35ppm}
PH is 8.0 {having a hard time getting this up...I suspect too much CO2}
Ammonia is 0ppm
Nitrites is 0ppm
Nitrates is 0-1ppm {last week is spiked for the highest since summer at about 4ppm}
Phosphates are 0.02 {lowest Ive been able to get it after struggling for a long time}
CA is down to 320
Alk as dropped to about 7.5-8 dkh {havent dosed in a month due to low calcium and dkh was 10}
no mag test yet {been a month since I added any}
Algea is under control {thanks to Pincusions + Angel/Tang}
Macro Algea growing slowly, but growing. {In Refugium and Remote DSB areas}
Added new lighting last month and have had lots of cyno on the substrate...need more snails.
Last week I did get a shipment of a variety of Macro Algea with lots of dead copepods in it and other junk...hopefully no hitchhikers!!
any thoughts please???
thanks

 

[tracymace1229]

I had a Pearly Gobyfish for about 6 weeks in the system {several tanks}. He was the boss in his tank. everything was fine and then he evacuated his home {PVC pipe}, acted like a newly stressed out fish. Looking for a way out of the tank and was declared missing 48 hours later. This all happened the same 2 days after I added the macro algea?
He acted like someone had taken over his home....???
Cannot ever see anything though....could this be related somehow?
Starting to worry about this algea and the shipper.
;(

 

[beth]

No algae should not be an issue, unless it is dying off and polluting the tank.
See if you can get a pic. up.

 

[kdfwr918]

Just wondering if anyone had an idea of what this could be. My clown developed the same in the last week. Thanks

 

[beth]

How long have you had the clown, and can you describe the symptoms your clown is having?

 

[kdfwr918]

We've had the clown for over a year. I will try and add some pics later today, but after researching on this great site....I'm about 99.9% sure its.... Lymphocystis
not really showing any symptons other than the growth, still eats good and very active.

 

[beth]

Originally Posted by kdfwr918
http:///forum/post/3240306
We've had the clown for over a year. I will try and add some pics later today, but after researching on this great site....I'm about 99.9% sure its.... Lymphocyctis
not really showing any symptoms other than the growth, still eats good and very active.
That would be good news then. There is info on managing lymphocyctis in the FAQ Topic, top of the Disease Forum.